


just let me dream

by ballerinaroy



Series: awfully dark for a children's series [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Dark, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Multi, Plot Twists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-22 23:03:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18537259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ballerinaroy/pseuds/ballerinaroy
Summary: All Hermione wanted was a few uninterrupted hours in the library. She should have known bringing Harry and Ron was a mistake.A companion piece to Chess Pieces.





	just let me dream

The closer they got to exams, the nicer it got outside and therefore the harder Hermione found it to convince Harry and Ron to accompany her to the library. It had taken all of breakfast to convince them to come with her, promising that so long as they caught up on homework then they could spend tomorrow doing whatever they wanted. Harry and Ron had grinned wickedly at each other, making her regret her promise at once. But it was always more fun doing their homework together and this way they wouldn’t spend Sunday evening pestering her to look over their essays.

To her continued delight, her usual table had been free and the sunshine was warm on her back as she crouched over a textbook, waiting for Harry or Ron to have a question on the essays they were diligently scribbling on. She felt at peace, knowing that they’d be ahead for the week and not irritable like they usually were when a deadline was approaching.

“Hermione,” Harry said with urgency and she glanced over at him “Hermione, I need you to snap out of it.” He sounded rather annoyed and she worried for a moment she’d been caught glancing at Ron.

“Harry, what are you talking about?” she asked of him.

“Bloody hell, Hermione, we need to go,” he said quickly, making no move to stand.

“There’s no need to curse,” she hissed at him, glancing around the library, sensing there was someone just around the corner to chastise them. “And keep your voice down.”

He looked at her and then, for a moment glanced around with disdain.

“Where do you think we are Hermione?” he asked in an annoyed voice.

“The library,” she said without thinking, wondering why he had to ruin her peaceful day. “Where do you think we are?”

For a moment an amused smile played over his face. “Of course it’s the library, only you Hermione.”

“What do you mean by that?” she asked, irritated now that she wasn’t going to get any of her work done, particularly when both he and Ron had been so agreeable just moments before.

“We’re not in the library.”

“What?”

Look around,” Harry insisted. “Really look, Hermione.”

“Harry,” she sighed.

He glanced over his shoulder at something and then back to her. “Come on Hermione, it’s important. We have to move, I need you to come out of this.”

His voice was still calm, even a little annoyed, but his face was showing an inordinate amount of concern for what should have been a normal morning in the library. She sighed and obliged him, looking around quickly at the stacks of books.

“We’re in the library,” she said, gesturing around. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright Harry?”

She looked over to Ron, expecting to see her worried expression reflected in his face but the chair where he’d just been sitting was vacant.

“Harry,” she said, her concern growing. “Harry, what’s going on?”

Again he glanced over his shoulder at something and then moved closer to her, so close that she could smell him and rather than like freshly laundered clothes or even quidditch he smelled rather dirty like it’d been several weeks since he’d last showered.

“Hermione, please, we need to move. Look around, look closely and tell me what you see.”

Something in his expression finally got through to her and she glanced around, expecting to see tables full of students but not a single chair was occupied and the stacks didn’t go on for as long as they should have, ending in a bright white light, the same blinding light that was streaming in through the window, obscuring the view of the grounds.

“Harry,” she said, frightened.

“Look at me,” said Harry, “We need to go Hermione.”

“No,” she said suddenly, trying to hold onto the image of the three of them, working on homework like any normal afternoon.  _And where was Ron?_

“Hermione,” Harry pleaded, running a hand through his hair in desperation, making it stand up on end.

Hermione stared at it in concern. Unlike the rest of his clothing, his sleeve was torn and underneath was blackened flesh, poorly wrapped. “Harry, what happened to your hand?”

Briefly, Harry glanced at it but was unconcerned as to how it had been disfigured. “Come-on, look at me, really look at me. It’s not real, we’re not-“

Fear spiked her senses and suddenly, just like that his hand belonged to his body, worn and disfigured, “No, we’re in the library, you and Ron agreed to come with me, we’re-“

Harry’s face fell. “Ron’s not here, Hermione.”

Again Hermione looked to the spot beside her, but now the sturdy oak chair had been replaced with one that had seen better days, the back missing and looking as though one strong wind would cause it to crumble.

“That’s strange,” she said softly, but it no longer felt weird or odd it was quickly becoming a nightmare. The sky outside was even getting darker. “He must’ve-“

But the thought died in her throat as she looked over at Harry again, a dim lantern on the table illuminating his face. He looked older, far too old to be at Hogwarts and just like his hand, Harry looked battle worn and exhausted.

“Harry,” Hermione whispered, reaching out at once to comfort him.

A loud bang caused them both to jump and Harry was urging her to her feet. “Come on Hermione, I can’t carry you. You need to snap out of it, you have to stop doing this to me.”

“Snap out of what?” Hermione asked, getting to her feet nevertheless and obediently put on the jumper Harry handed her. “Harry, what’s going on? We were just at Hogwarts and now-“

“Hogwarts?” Harry asked, a fond smile playing over his face. “The library at Hogwarts? Don’t tell me you were daydreaming about us doing  _homework_  at  _Hogwarts_?”

“I wasn’t,” Hermione blushed, feeling rather embarrassed. “I wasn’t daydreaming.”

Harry let out a long sigh and crossed the room back over to the table. He picked up a piece of litter as he turned out the light. “I caught you in the middle of one, if you’re going to keep doing it then don’t lie about it.” He pressed a scrap of paper into her hand and held out his arm expectantly. “I know this has been hard Hermione, but you really need to stop doing this. I need you.”

“Wait!” Hermione called before she could inspect the paper and in alarm Harry froze, glancing around the room. “Wait, where’s Ron?”

For a moment they were standing in the library again, dressed in their school things and standing now in a row of books.

“We can’t go without Ron,” she continued to Harry’s pitying look. “We can’t go, he’ll be wondering where we’ve gone.”

“Hermione,” he sighed, sounding annoyed though giving her a pitying look. “Hermione, I swear, I can’t keep going through this with you. Dreaming about him won’t bring him back.”

“Dreaming?” she asked. “Harry, I’m not dreaming.”

She tore her hand from his grip.

“Yes,” he sighed like they’d had this argument a hundred of times before. “You are.”

He pulled the wrapper from her hand and held it up to her.  _Patented Daydream Charm_ , the faded wrapper read under the bright orange  _Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes_ ’ logo. She felt as though she’d been slapped in the face, any remaining illusion stolen from her suddenly as she glanced up at Harry who wore an exasperated expression.

“I can’t keep doing this with you Hermione, dreaming about him won’t change anything.” He continued.

The same argument every time, how much he hated her indulgence in them, going through her things every time he caught her.  _It’s harmless, Harry_. She always said to him.  _It just takes off the edge for a while_.

“I don’t know where you keep getting them but I need you to stop.” Harry demanded, “Ron’s gone, he’s dead Hermione.”

And it all came back to her, the smell of the forest and her chest on fire as they sprinted towards one another. Realizing a moment too late who was beyond Ron and watching helplessly as he shoved Harry towards her as his body lit up green and all she could do was disapparate away, pulling Harry with her.

“No,” she murmured her voice shaking as tears came to her eyes. It was just as painful every time she remembered. “Ron.”

And it was just her and Harry, ruthlessly hunting the other side, her body count rivaling even the most accomplished Death Eaters now. He held out his arm for her again as someone outside the shelter let out a bloodcurdling scream.

“Damn it, Harry,” she cursed, wiping away the tears from her face even as she put her hand on his injured forearm. “Why can’t you just let me dream?”

 


End file.
